


golden flower tea

by sugarlix



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (implied) - Freeform, Autistic Frisk, Autistic Papyrus, Character Study, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Gen, Mute Frisk, Papyrus-centric, Selectively Mute Frisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 05:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9533210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarlix/pseuds/sugarlix
Summary: a moment of quiet like this is a far cry to how busy the house normally is. it's fleeting, but papyrus enjoys quiet every once in a while. under specific, carefully orchestrated circumstances, quiet is enjoyable.alternatively: asgore and papyrus have a chat and papyrus loves his family.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hello again!! this is something i wrote quickly whilst working on another piece. i really wanted to delve into papyrus' universe again, so this was super nice to do! i always love writing pap, he's so great!!
> 
> a few people seemed to like papyrus and asgore's relationship in 'of optimism' -- i really liked writing it!! they're such a rarepair, but i love them. they're both massive sweethearts.
> 
> i really hope you enjoy it!! :)

A moment of quiet like this is a far cry to how busy the house normally is. It's fleeting, but Papyrus enjoys quiet every once in a while. Under specific, carefully orchestrated circumstances, quiet is enjoyable.

The others are out shopping (Undyne yelling: **'THE JANUARY SALES ARE STILL ON! PAP, YOU WANNA COME?!'** ; Toriel saying she wanted to go and buy some pastry; Alphys throwing a scarf haphazardly around her neck and putting on mittens; Papyrus making sure Sans wore a coat and a hat -- _pap, i'm fine_ , said with a sheepish smile).

Papyrus watches as Asgore sips at his tea, noting how his paws dwarf the little flower-patterned teacup. It's funny, really, how imposing Asgore looks at first sight, all seven feet of him and massive fluffy paws. If Papyrus didn't know him, he'd maybe look intimidating.

Asgore sets down the teacup and leans against the back of his chair, sighing. 'It's a beautiful day,' he says, looking out the window at the falling snow. 'I saw many when I was in New Home, but none are ever as sweet as when you have friends to share them with.'

Papyrus tilts his head a little, unsure how to answer before blurting out, 'I'm happy to be with you too, Asgore!'

Papyrus' voice is not suited for quiet. It is loud and cheerful and exuberant, spilling over with thoughts and ideas, and nothing seems to be able to quieten it. Asgore never seems to mind, and he smiles now, gentle and a little amused.

'Thank you, Papyrus.'

There is a silence. Papyrus taps his shoes together (light blue high-top Converse -- he's been getting into human fashion) and sips a little at the sweet tea (he always put a lot of milk and sugar in it -- Undyne didn't understand how he could bear it that weak). He taps his phalanges against the mug.

'How's being the ambassador going?' Asgore says. There's a twinkle in his eyes; he knows Asgore's only asking because Papyrus likes to talk about it.

'Good!' he says. 'A lady asked how I could breathe the other day.'

Asgore blinks. 'What did you tell her?'

'Oh, I said I didn't know either. I said it was probably magic and then she nodded and we went to look for my spaghetti ingredients. Did you know the very thin spaghetti is called fedelini? Sans can never pronounce it right.'

'I did not.'

'And I found something the human called an arcade!' Papyrus flaps his hands a little, 'It has lots of video games in it. There are a lot of puzzle games like the ones we have, and the human was really nice! She said she liked my skirt.'

'That's good, Papyrus,' Asgore smiles. 'I'm happy being the ambassador is working out well for you. I'm sure there's a reason why Frisk didn't want to do it, but ...'

There is a reason, Papyrus think, smile now a little strained. It's just that he's the only one who knows it.

 

(Frisk had come up to him after the rest had trailed off, tugging a little at his scarf. The colours of the sunset had shone against their light brown skin. He remembers how their expression very serious.

 _'I didn't want to do it,_ ' they had stated. It took Papyrus a few seconds to figure out what they were talking about . _'Bad things have happened when it's been my job. The other timelines were a little scary aboveground,'_ they signed quickly, looking a little guilty. ' _Stressful, too. This time I maybe want to relax._

_'You're good with people, anyway. I've seen you. I know some social stuff is confusing, but you've always been nothing but patient and kind to me.'_

'I'll do my best!' Papyrus had beamed. They'd smiled a little, happy.

 _'I know you will,'_ they'd signed. They cleared their throat and spoke aloud: 'Thank you.')

 

Papyrus notices that Asgore is looking at him.

'Mm-hm,' he says, drinking some more tea hurriedly. He can still taste the sugar, but the drink's getting a little cold.

'You were lost in your own little world there,' Asgore laughs.

It's quiet again, the only sounds the clinking of Papyrus' spoon as he stirs his tea.

Asgore looks out the window again. Papyrus notices how the sky has darkened into kaleidoscope shades of violet and navy, the night striking quickly in the winter months. The moon and stars will be out soon, and by then it'll be time for him and Sans to go out and stargaze as they do every night.

'It was lovely talking to you, Papyrus,' Asgore says.

'And talk -- and to talk to you!' Papyrus stumbles in his excitement, flapping his hands happily.

Asgore seems to get the gist of what he means and smiles. Papyrus smiles back, warmth unfurling in his chest.

 

The others burst through the door, bringing cold with them. Papyrus startles and then relaxes. Alphys and Undyne are in front of Toriel and Sans, Frisk at their heels. They shove their head through the middle of the small crowd, grinning widely with their cheeks tinged pink from the cold.

'PAP!' Undyne yells. Gently. 'Guess what, we found the cutest thing for you ...'

'W-we also found a mug for Asgore, t-too!'

'Sans and I got ingredients for butterscotch-cinnamon pie, Frisk's favourite ...'

'And we picked up the lasagna sheets you asked for, Pap!!!'

'hey bro. did you have fun?'

'Of course, brother!!'

Sans smiles as he leans against Toriel. 'the stars are supposed to be really clear tonight, pap.'

Undyne and Alphys dump all their bags on the table, both of them talking a mile a minute about all the shops they went into and all the things they found for him and _you should've seen it, Pap, we got you the cutest skirt!_

'Asgore,' Papyrus says abruptly. 'Do you want to help me make the lasagna tonight? You said you wanted to try cooking, so ...'

'Of course,' Asgore says.

Toriel rubs your head as she passes. 'Don't make too much,' she laughs. 'We have pie for tonight, don't we, Frisk?'

Frisk jolts out of thought and nods, wandering up to where Papyrus is sitting. Toriel takes off their hat, tucks a stray strand of hair behind their ear and begins unravelling their scarf from around their neck.

 _'Did you manage okay while we were gone?'_ they sign. _'I know you don't like being alone and that you were low on spoons.'_

'I managed fine, Frisk!' Papyrus says. 'Thank you for asking me.'

They nod.

'Did you buy anything in town?'

 _'Mostly I helped Mum,'_ they sign. _'But I also got a new jumper. Chara wanted to go to the sweet shop.'_

'They were with you today?'

Their hands move quickly. _'Yeah. It's nice being able to talk to them on the surface. They were really happy today.'_

'That's good!' Papyrus exclaims. Toriel finishes pulling off their gloves and kisses their head, walking away to chat with Asgore about something.

Frisk's eyes follow her. _'How was Dad?'_

'Good! We talked. He made me golden flower tea.'

_'That's the best.'_

He grins at them. 'Of course!!'

The two of you trail off. Frisk gets that look in their eye that shows they're far, far away somewhere else. He looks at the people in the room, hands twisting into your top.

A moment of busyness like this is just how normally is. It's constant, but Papyrus enjoys the sound of laughter and conversation and the voices of all his best friends. Under specific, carefully orchestrated circumstances, quiet is enjoyable. But, Papyrus thinks, this -- how Alphys blushes when Undyne pulls her close and kisses her on the cheek; how Asgore handles his new pale blue teacup so gently; how Frisk sits on the kitchen counter and hums as Toriel bakes; how Sans rifles through the shopping bags for his new quantum physics book ...

Papyrus knows, a buzz of happiness around him, that this is his favourite.

**Author's Note:**

> can you all my fave headcanons are dumped here?
> 
> ambassador!papyrus is SO GOOD. it makes me so sad that there's hardly any content revolving around that. papyrus being the ambassador of monsters would be hilarious and very sweet and i'm here for pap trying his best in a world of humans. :')
> 
> papyrus wearing a skirt -- ALWAYS here for that!! i like to think pap would be really interested in human fashion (especially street fashion and cute clothes)!
> 
> autistic!papyrus is my favourite thing ever. i'm autistic, papyrus is autistic, it makes me so so happy to write him being autistic!! :D
> 
> PLATONIC PAPYRUS AND ASGORE RETURNS. what a brotp, i love these two. <3
> 
>  
> 
> please do review if you can!! reviews make me so so happy and i worked really hard on this! thank you for reading!!


End file.
